"Vladimir," by Julia May Jonas

With this cover, how can you not pick up Julia May Jonas's "Vladimir?" It is, however, not the steamy romance novel that you think. The narrator, a college professor in a small liberal arts college in upstate New York, finds herself embroiled in her husband's impropriety scandal with his students. This novel is a look at feminism, aging, and relationship power struggles, and many of us can relate. The author's cerebral writing style will keep you reading through the end as the narrative takes twists and turns through a resolution.

Book Review: "Razorblade Tears, " by S.A. Crosby

Razorblade Tears, by S.A. Cosby, is an action-packed novel that will leave you rooting for
two fathers seeking justice. Set in Virginia, this is a story about two fathers, one a Black man and a White man. Both are former convicts trying to stay on the straight and narrow. What brings them together? Deep grief. Someone has murdered their sons, leaving their 3-year-old granddaughter fatherless. After the police don't get anywhere in the investigation, the two fathers decide to take vigilante justice into their own hands. I happened to be reading this book while also watching Yellowstone. They mirrored each other in their drama, violence, and protecting your family at all costs, so it was easy for me to visualize the scenes in the book. However, this novel is more than just about a story of retribution. It also looks at how race, bigotry, sexual identity, and our communities shape us. It is about understanding that we don't all live with the same privilege. Most of all, it is a story about accepting your children for who they are before it is too late. Despite some gruesome scenes, this book left me emotional at the end. 

Review: "Dial A for Aunties, " by Jesse Q. Sutanto

 

Dial A for Aunties, by Jesse Q. Sutanto, is a character-driven novel that will keep you reading and laughing. If you need a murder/suspense/love story, this is the book for you. There is nothing that family won't do for each other, even hiding a dead body. Lots of foreshadowing throughout the book and Sutanto ties up everything in the end. Some of the resolutions feel a little contrived, but somehow they work and don't take away from how entertaining the novel is to read. On a deeper level, the book is about family expectations and the pressure we put on ourselves to meet those expectations even when they are self-imposed. 

Review: "The Little Paris Bookshop," by Nina George

This book was originally published in the writer's native German in 2013 and translated into English in 2019.

The Little Paris Bookshop is a novel about a bookseller that has the gift of pairing books with readers. He is a literary apothecary giving readers precisely what they need to heal their souls even though he is hiding his own pain and story of lost love.  Twenty years before, he received a letter from his lover. Assuming it is a "Dear John" letter, he stashes it away, never to be read. When he finally reads the letter he sets off on a literal and metaphoric journey to heal his broken heart.

This is a story of lost love, finding yourself, and finding new love. Nina George's writing is lush, and I found myself underlining so many passages. One of my favorite passages resonated with me because it sums up why I love books and travel. "Reading-an endless journey; a long, indeed never-ending journey that made one more temperate as well as more loving and kind" -Nina George. Whether you are traveling through the passages of a novel or in the literal sense you should always come out a better person for getting to experience a world outside your own. 

I picked up this book to read on a trip to Paris and it left me longing for the South of France. If you need a book to lose yourself in, this is the book for you. 

Review: "Olga Dies Dreaming," by Xotchil Gonzalez

 

Olga Dies Dreaming is a debut novel by Xotchil Gonzalez. It is a character-driven novel with complex, well-developed characters. The book will be officially published on January 4th, but I was able to get an early release through my Book of the Month subscription.  

While there are many layers to the themes, at its core, it is a story about family, relationships, culture, and the effects of American Imperialism on its territories. The novel is written in multi-perspective voices. On one side is Olga, an event organizer that plans lavish weddings for the elite, and the other perspective is told from her brother, Prieto, a New York Congressman. Family ties their stories together. There is their ever-present family, Tias, Tios, Primos, and from afar, their estranged mother, manipulating and influencing them through letters. 

The first half of the novel takes you through the lives of the main characters and then takes a turn in its complexity with the aftermath of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico. The reader will learn about the nuances of what it means for territories like Puerto Rico to be a part of the United States. While they are citizens and serve our country in the military, they have no representation in the US government or autonomy for their own economy.  

The author handles serious issues in an approachable way. This is the kind of book you will want to discuss with others. If your book club likes deep discussions, definitely check this one out. 

Review: "The Last Thing He Told Me," by Laura Dave

The Last Thing He Told Me, by Laura Dave, is a gripping novel that you will have difficulty putting down. After the FBI raids his office, Hannah's husband, Owen, disappears. The last thing he does is to leave Hannah with a message to protect his teenage daughter. She is left with more questions than answers as she tries to figure out why Owen has fled. The biggest question is, is Owen really who she thinks he is?

As Hannah questions what she knows about Owen her stream of consciousness gives you their backstory. The novel starts off in Sausalito, California, and then the action-packed plot takes you to Austin. As someone who has lived in the Austin area for 20 years, I found these scenes a little distracting. I kept nitpicking the accuracy of small details of the city. However, the storytelling, the suspense, and the action held my attention. It has been a while since a book has kept me up past midnight. I found the resolution somewhat unrealistic, but I still enjoyed the overall story. If you like a fast-paced, suspenseful novel then check this one out. 

Review: "What's Mine and Yours," by Naima Coster

 

What's Mine and Yours, by Naima Coster, is a multiperspective novel that takes you back and forth from the past to the present. On one side, you have the Ventura sisters and their dysfunctional parents, and on the other side you have Gee and his overbearing mother. This character-driven novel is a contemporary perspective of racial tension in a small town.  Mothers will go through all lengths to do what they think is best for their children, even when sometimes those decisions ostracize their own children. I enjoyed the storytelling and discovering how everyone is connected in unexpected ways. 

Review: "The Neighbor's Secret," by L. Alison Heller

 

The Neighbor's Secret, by L. Allison Heller. How well do you really know your neighbors? In this idyllic suburban neighborhood, the neighbors host monthly book clubs complete with themed drinks. Some neighbors have lived there for decades and have seen families, tragedies, and neighborhood drama come and go. Everyone has their own secret, and neighbors are connected in ways they have yet to discover.  The story is slow at first because there are a lot of characters to meet, each with their own backstories and conflict.  However, as the narrative moves along and the secrets unravel, the book is hard to put down. 

Review: "Skye Falling", by Mia Mckenzie

 

Skye is a complicated woman. As an owner of a travel guide company, she has no need to establish any roots in her hometown of Philadelphia. That is until Vicky comes into her life. At 26 years old Skye was broke, and when an old childhood friend asks her to be an egg donor she jumps at the chance to make a quick buck. Now it is 12 years later her childhood friend has passed away from breast cancer and Vicky is looking for her egg donor. Meeting an angst-filled tween like Vicky changes Skye and gives her a reason to spend more time in Philadelphia. She is forced to face her demons and the parts of herself that she likes to keep hidden. 

This is a character-driven novel with the underlying theme of  family trauma and the issues that underly gentrification. You will find yourself rooting for Skye and hoping that she makes the right decisions when it comes to Vicky, family and love. 🕮🐛🐛🐛

Review: "Saint X", Alexis Schaitkin

 

One of the perks of being a Little Free Library steward is getting books donated and reading them first. In the past year, Celadon Books, an imprint of Macmillan books, created a program with the LFL organization to send books to stewards to promote their authors' works. Usually, I put them straight in the LFL so that they can get read by others. When Saint X arrived in the mail, the cover art quickly caught my attention. Yes, I will admit that I do judge a book by its cover. I scanned the back cover to read the synopsis, and I was quickly intrigued by the story and just had to read it before passing it along. The book did not disappoint.

The story opens up on a fictional island in the Caribbean, where affluent, White people come to experience the island's culture from a distance. When Alison, a college freshman on vacation with her family, disappears, the novel really begins. The aftermath that this experience has on her family, especially her younger sister and the suspects in her disappearance, is the novel's core. Told in lush language, Schaitkin takes your imagination from Saint X to New York City in vivid detail. The novel is non-linear, going back and forth between memory and present-day to unfold a story about the secrets we keep and how no one really knows another's truth, even you, yourself. While there are elements of suspense this element is just a small part of the story.  I really enjoyed Schaitkin's writing style, and her social commentary on how being born into privilege is merely the luck of the draw.  📖🐛🐛🐛🐛

Review: "All Adults Here," by Emma Strub

This is my book club's selection for July, but I decided to get a head start. I could not put it down. This is the kind of book that, when it ends, you still miss the characters. There are many different storylines, but Straub does a great job of wrapping them all up together with a character-driven storyline. The heartwarming family story about finding love at any age and being true to yourself will have you falling in love even with the characters who sometimes are unlikeable.  We all make mistakes as parents, as children, as friends, but this book will show that it is how you grow from those experiences that makes you ultimately a good person. 

Review: "How Lucky," by Will Leitch

Daniel lives in a college town and is confined to a wheelchair because he is living with Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Despite his fatal disease, limited mobility, and speech, he lives life to the fullest with his sidekick best friend who takes him to college tailgates.  Life is great for Daniel until the morning that he sees one of his neighbors get into a car. The next day it is reported that his neighbor has been kidnapped and Daniel realizes that he witnessed her disappearance. The mystery of Ai-Chin's disappearance turns into a gripping, plot-driven psychological suspense. Leitch's writing draws you into the story as you get a glimpse into Daniel's innermost thoughts about his life and his disease. I also liked that the novel is written with contemporary issues in the background of the plot. 

Review: "The Light We Lost", by Jill Santiopolo

 

Lucy and Gabe's love story begins on September 11th, 2001, and spans a little over a decade. The Light We Lost is about first love. It's about the choices we make and the what-ifs. It's about love and regrets. The novel is written as a love letter to the one that got away. While I enjoyed Jill Santopolo's compelling storytelling, I did not find the main characters very likable. Maybe at a different point in my life, I would have loved the characters. As a 40 something-year-old married mother of two using my own personal experience as a lens, I could not sympathize with Lucy and found both men in Lucy's life irritating. As an intelligent, driven young woman, she took no control of her love life. The novel discusses love as a raging wildfire, a bonfire, or a steady hearth. The men in her life were the two extremes and in my opinion, what she needed was a bonfire. Not sure if all books have this, but my edition included some fun features at the end of the book. Book references are a trademark part of their relationship, so Santopolo includes a list of literature mentioned in "Lucy and Gabe's Reading List." Also included are a discussion guide, an interview with the author, and a playlist to listen to while discussing the books. I happen to be listening to it as I write this review. It's a good list of music and can be found on Spotify. 🕮🐛🐛🐛

Review: "Kindred," by Octavia Butler

In 1976 Dana Franklin, a Black woman, finds herself transported to Antebellum, Maryland. When she arrives, there is a White child that is drowning. She has no idea how she got there or why she is there. When a rifle is drawn on her, she is transported back to her suburban home in Los Angeles. These time-traveling episodes happen five more times throughout the book. The White boy turns out to be Rufus Weylin, the son of a White slave owner. She quickly realizes that she is transported back every time Rufus is in danger. Dana also learns that she and Rufus have an ancestral connection and feels compelled to help him because the past affects her future. As you can imagine, an educated Black woman from 1976 traveling into the time of slavery creates complications.

Octavia's writing is compelling, engaging, and draws you into the narrative. The tone is haunting and sobering with Dana's heavy responsibility for Rufus and the slaves that she lives amongst during her time in the past. Kindred is a commentary about the relationship between slave owners and slaves and a metaphor of what slavery took away from future generations of Black people. 🕮🐛🐛🐛🐛

Review: "The Couple Next Door," by Shari Lapena

 

This novel starts off as a whodunnit mystery and halfway turns into a psychological thriller. Anne and Marco come home after a night of drinking with their next-door neighbors to find that their 6-month-old baby has gone missing. Just when you think you know the full story of how baby Cora has disappeared there are many twists to be unraveled. Characters are flawed and everyone but Anne is unlikable, so you are not sure who you can trust. The pacing of the story is intense making it a quick read. If you like a nail-biter with a fast-paced storyline then you might enjoy trying to unravel this suspenseful mystery. 📖🐛🐛🐛

Review: "The Lost Apothecary," by Sarah Penner

 

The Lost Apothecary, by Sarah Penner, is historical fiction sprinkled with fantasy. It is a non-linear, intensely paced novel with three narrators across two time periods. In 1719 London, Nella works as an apothecary, working in the shop once owned by her mother. After being betrayed by a lover, Nella's work leads her to help women poison the men in their lives that have done them wrong. Eliza is the 12-year-old housemaid who befriends Nella when her mistress sends her on an errand to the apothecary. In the present, Caroline finds herself alone in London on what is supposed to be a tenth wedding anniversary trip. On her first day there, she finds a blue vial with a bear etched on its surface. Nella and Eliza's story unfolds, in 1719, as Caroline puts together the story of the origins of the vial. You quickly see many parallels between the past and the present. At the center of the novel is a story about the bonds and friendships between women, men’s betrayals, and womanhood itself. The characters are introspective, each making brave decisions to give closure to all three narrators. At the end of the novel, Penner includes magic and apothecary recipes and some historical context on poisoning in 18th century London. I recommend this book to anyone who likes a story with lots of twists and turns and strong women characters. The storylines were so intriguing that I found it to be a quick read. 📖🐛🐛🐛🐛

Review: "Dominicana," by Angie Cruz

 

A beautiful novel about the sacrifices immigrants make to attain a better life for the family. Ana is 15 and lives in the countryside of the Dominican Republic. Her family marries her off to Juan, an older man who has immigrated to New York. This isn't the life that Ana had in mind, but she does it so that her family can someday follow her to America. Told in a lyrical style, with short chapters that move the plot along at a steady pace. Ana's story of finding her place as a young wife and a recent immigrant occurs in 1965 NYC with unrest in race relations, the Vietnam War, and the Dominican Republic civil war in the background. 📖🐛🐛🐛🐛

Review: "The Sun Down Motel," by Simone St. Jamies

This Horror/Mystery is a pretty fast read and will definitely keep you on your toes. Twenty-year-old Carly travels to Fell, New York to solve the mystery of how her Aunt Viv disappeared at the Sun Down Motel in 1982. The non-linear plot went back and forth between Carly in the present day to Viv in 1982. Their lives parallel as they both women search for answers. Who are these ghosts that haunt the Sun Down? Is there a connection between all the women who died in this small town? Lots of strong female characters, the storyline will keep you guessing and creep you out as the mystery of what happened to Viv unravels itself. 📖🐛🐛🐛

Review: "Outlawed," by Anna North

I don't usually go for Westerns, but I was intrigued by the feminist plot of the novel. Set in the Western Frontier somewhere in the Colorado/Texas/Oklahoma area where women are ostracized and thought of as witches for their inability to have children. Ada, the main character, meets up with the Hole in the Wall gang, a group of lawless women doing everything they can to survive. The story is fast-paced, with sweeping descriptions of the landscape. The Diverse cast of characters are often flawed but very likable. Ultimately it is a story about survival, female friendship, and love. 📖🐛🐛🐛🐛

Review: "The Office of Historical Corrections," by Danielle Evans

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories and a novella. Each story is a poignant look at race and its effects on personal history. The stories have a leisurely pace exploring issues of race with well-developed, reflective characters. The writing is compelling and thought-provoking giving you lots to chew on. 📖🐛🐛🐛🐛